The 11th African Women Cup of Nations can now kick off with no uncertainties after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Switzerland rejected the motion filed by Football Kenya Federation requesting that provisional measures be taken by CAS in order for Kenya to be reinstated into the tournament or to stop the tournament until the matter is decided by CAS.

Kenya had taken the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to the CAS following the decision by the Appeals Committee to overturn a ban on Equatorial Guinea for fielding an ineligible player against Kenya in the qualifiers. That decision saw Equatorial Guinea reinstated in place of Kenya in Group B and Kenya now sought an interim order at the CAS pending the determination of the substantive suit.

In a ruling delivered today at the CAS, the President of the Appeals Arbitration Division rejected the request for provisional measures filed by the Football Kenya Federation on 14 November 2018 although the court will still entertain the substantive suit challenging Kenya’s ouster and Equatorial Guinea’s reinstatement.

In view of the ruling delivered today by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, the eight qualified teams for the Total’s Women African Cup of Nations 2018 remains Algeria, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, Mali, Nigeria, South Africa and Zambia.

The tournament kicks off tomorrow 17 November 2018 with the opening fixture between hosts Ghana and Algeria. The 2018 AWCON will also serve as qualifiers for 2019 FIFA Women World Cup in France with the three best teams qualifying.